Around the Diocese

Ordinations

Anna Woofenden, to the Sacred Order of Deacons, April 17, 2021

Rev. Anna Woofenden

Anna is originally from Washington state and currently lives in Northampton MA. St. John’s Episcopal Church, Northampton is her sponsoring parish. (Anna was strongly supported by St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal in San Francisco, where she started her journey with The Episcopal Church).

Anna is the founder and co-host of the Food and Faith Podcast, and the author of This is God’s Table: Finding Church Beyond the Walls.

She is passionate about being the church in our current time and context, matters of justice (especially around food, environment, poverty, housing and race), liturgy, and young adults. ♦

Peter Feltman-Mahan, to the Sacred Order of Priests, September 25, 2021

Rev. Peter Feltman-Mahan

Peter has roots in the Capital region of New York and is trained as a classroom teacher, school psychologist, and school leader.

While teaching, he discerned the need to more deeply engage the scriptures and church history. Peter began attending Yale Divinity Schools in 2015 and completed an internship at St. Andrews Church in Albany, NY.

He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a Diploma in Anglican Studies from Berkeley Divinity School in 2020. Peter has served Trinity Episcopal Church, Lenox as a seminarian and transitional deacon. ♦

Phillip Haywood Shearin, to the Sacred Order of Priests, May 22, 2021

Phillip's call to ordained ministry was supported by the people of All Saints', South Hadley. He served there as Pastoral Associate for Lawrence House Service Corps.

Phillip studied history at Hampton University and went to Seminary at Trinity College, University of Toronto. He completed a Chaplain Residency Program at Duke University Hospital and is a certified Healthcare Ethics Consultant (HEC-C) currently serving on the Ethics Committee at Mt Auburn Hospital.

Currently in the Masters of Bioethics program at the University of Pennsylvania, Phillip serves as a hospice chaplain with Beth Israel Lahey Health at Home. ♦

L-R: Rev. Phillip Haywood Shearin, Rt. Rev. Doug Fisher, and Rev. Joel Antonio Martinez

Joel Antonio Martinez, to the Sacred Order of Priests, May 22, 2021

Joel was born in the city of

Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic. Joel was engaged in congregational ministry as treasurer of his local church, eventually serving as Senior Warden.

In mid-2015, he took the necessary steps to enter the Dominican Episcopal Church Seminary. His call to ordained ministry was supported by Father Emilio Martin and San Pedro y San Pablo church.

Joel came to Springfield, MA in May of 2018 to begin serving at Christ Church Cathedral. Under the direction of Dean Tom Callard, he has been preaching and engaged in pastoral care. ♦

Welcome to Western Massachusetts

Rev. Michael Hamilton, Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, Sutton

Rev. Michael Hamilton

Bishop Fisher welcomed the Rev. Michael Hamilton to the diocesan community of deacons on March 1st and assigned him to serve the people of Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, Sutton, alongside the Rev. Laura Goodwin, rector.

As a graduate of the Diocese of Massachusetts School of Deacons, Michael was ordained in 2007 and has served three congregations in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Michael also served for six years as archdeacon with the Ven. Patricia Zifcak, who directs the School for Deacons. Together they addressed education, placement, and the pastoral concerns of the deacons in the Diocese of Massachusetts. ♦

Rev. John Lein, Trinity Episcopal Church, Milford

Rev. John Lein

The people of Trinity Episcopal Church, Milford have called the Rev. John Elliott Lein to serve as rector, effective August 1st.

John came to the priesthood after a career in media/design. His university training (2002) was in Digital Media with a focus on Computer Animation and a minor in Illustration.

The call to priesthood led John to Virginia Theological Seminary where he received the Master of Divinity degree, with an emphasis on Spirituality. After ordination in 2020, he accepted a call to serve as Priest-in-Charge at St. Thomas a Becket Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Virginia. ♦

Rev. Cristina Rathbone, Grace Episcopal Church, Great Barrington

Rev. Cristina Rathbone

The people of Grace Church, an Episcopal community in the Southern Berkshires, have called the Rev. Cristina Rathbone to serve as their third rector, effective August 1st.

Tina served Boston’s Cathedral Church of St. Paul for ten years. As Canon Missioner there, she worked primarily with homeless and marginally housed people. Tina went on to develop The Bridge Chaplaincy with the Diocese of the Rio Grande, helping them find ways to serve migrants and asylum seekers along the international border between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. She currently works with Episcopal Migration Ministries to launch Neighbor to Neighbor, a national network designed to connect Episcopal congregations with newly arrived asylum seekers in their own, local contexts. ♦

Rev. Martha Sipe, Christ the King-Epiphany, Wilbraham

Rev. Martha Sipe

The people of Christ the King - Epiphany Church in Wilbraham have called Pastor Martha S. Sipe to serve as rector, effective August 16th.

Christ the King - Epiphany is a community comprised of Lutherans and Episcopalians who have chosen life together.

Martha was ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1998 after receiving the M.Div. from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1998. Martha has a B.A. in sacred music from Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA and M.M. in sacred music from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ. ♦